Bitter Sweetness
by nxiro
Summary: At the end of a rather busy street in the equally busy city, you'll find a quiet, peaceful coffee shop. What kind of bittersweet memories would be made here...? / Coffee Shop AU.
1. Milk

**Coffee Shop AUs are really popular apparently, so I thought I would do my own take on the already-popular alternate prompt with Kagerou Project. I hope you enjoy!**

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At the end of a rather busy street in the equally busy city, you'll find a quiet, peaceful coffee shop.

The coffee shop isn't an extremely famous one; sure, it has its busy hours some days, but most of the time it's quite peaceful. The customers are usually regulars that have known about this place for a long time; the employees could probably count a month's new faces in two hands, three if they were lucky. That didn't mean the coffee shop served bad coffee, though; they often get praises from customers about their coffees' great tastes.

It was a coffee shop that gave off a different feeling from most of the others in this busy city; while popular coffee shops like Starbucks were quick and most people grabbed their coffee and left, this was a place where people often ordered their coffee and stayed in the shop, reading books or just spending a nice afternoon away from their troubles.

The shop looked like something straight out of a fairytale or fantasy. The wooden structure of the shop gave it a kind of vintage feeling, and there were many windows, letting in lots of sunlight. The shop was surrounded with bushes and flowers, giving a touch of life. The seats by the window were definitely the best, with the warm sunlight and occasional refreshing breeze blowing by. The coffee shop was like a breath of fresh air in the busy city it was located in. Although it had a beautiful name, "Bittersweet", most people didn't bother to remember it by that.

What kind of bittersweet memories would be made here...?

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When the clock strikes seven and the sun is starting to shine upon the streets, the small coffee shop flips the "closed" sign around and welcomes another day of work.

"Takane, Takane..." The black-haired girl stirs slightly, lightly batting away the hand of the boy. Couldn't he tell she was tired as fuck? She was still sleeping, goddammit!

"You know what to do, Haruka-senpai." Another voice (that sounded a little more annoying) said, chuckling. Just the sound of his voice made her wanted to punch him in the face.

"Seriously? Again?" asked a third voice that obviously belonged to someone younger. The first boy sighed.

"Takane, someone beat your high score in Dead Bullet-" The girl's eyes snapped open and she sat up immediately.

"I'M SORRY, WHAT?!" she yelled. The three boys had covered their ears way before she started yelling. Takane looked around, blinking. She sighed and yawned as she realized she wasn't in her room, in front of a computer screen. Instead, she was at work, sitting in one of the seats. She had fallen asleep at the café once she changed into the uniform again, but that wasn't her fault, was it? The others had finished the morning preparations for her. She stood up and yawned once again.

"...What?" she asked, turning her attention towards the three other workers. The three of them sighed simultaneously.

"Seriously, do you even sleep at night? How are you always so tired?" asked Hibiya Amamiya. He was the youngest employee as he was still in high school. He could be rude and brash, but he is probably the best at his work out of the four of them.

"She's been playing games again, obviously. Really, Enomoto, I don't understand how you have time for that when you're failing college." said Shintaro Kisaragi. He was the most annoying one out of the four of them, and he was also the one Takane wanted to punch in the face the most. He was an annoying guy who hated to talk to people, despite working at a coffee shop and being a genius with the IQ of 168.

"Shut up, Kisaragi, why are you here anyways? What happened to 4510471 (I don't go to work)?" said Takane, glaring at him. Shintaro sighed.

"We've talked about this. My sister. Obviously." he said.

"Okay, okay, can we just all get along? Takane?" asked Haruka Kokonose. He is Takane's classmate since high school and he was her only friend. He didn't really care about what others thought about him, and he was a really kind and nice guy.

The four of them, along with Takane Enomoto, were the four employees of Bittersweet Café.

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The wind chimes ring as the door opens, and Hibiya looks up from the counter. It was one of the more peaceful times of the coffee shop, and it was when the others decided to take a rest. The earliest customers had just left, and the later customers wouldn't be coming for another thirty minutes.

A girl wearing a pink hoodie had entered the shop, her face covered by her hood. She sat down at one of the seats by the window, and rested her chin on one of her hands. Hibiya sighed and walked over to her, knowing that he couldn't stand there pretending he didn't recognize her, and that she was waiting for him.

"Welcome to Bittersweet Café." he said simply. The girl looked at him, and her mouth curved into a smile.

"It's nice to be back," she said. "You could tell who I am?" Hibiya sighed.

"I see you too often for me to not recognize you," he said, as the girl lifted off her hood, revealing her orange hair and black eyes. "Momo Kisaragi." Momo chuckled.

"That's true." she said. "Anyways, one-"

"One Coca Cola with one shot of expresso mixed with Torani vanilla syrup, iced, with whipped cream on the top, served in a waffle cone triple-dipped in chocolate." Hibiya finished, not even bothering to write it down. He glanced at her. "Am I right?" Momo blinked, slightly surprised.

"...Yeah." she said. "How did you remember all that?"

"You order it every time." Hibiya replied simply. Momo smiled.

"Aw, you remembered my order? That's so sweet!" she said. Hibiya's cheeks flushed red, and he looked away.

"Y-You're annoying!" he said. "I'll go get Shintaro!" Momo pulled on Hibiya's sleeve and stopped him from leaving.

"It's not like I come here just to see Onii-chan!" she said. "I came here to relax! And to talk to you!" Hibiya sighed.

"I'll go make your drink." he said, and he walked into the kitchen. Making Momo's exotic drink wasn't hard, but he furrowed his eyebrows every time he made it. It wasn't a drink he enjoyed personally, and the rest of the workers here also refused to drink it, even Shintaro, who was Momo's brother. But Momo loved it greatly, even though Hibiya didn't know why. He finished making her coffee and brought it to her. Momo took a sip and sighed.

"This is the best drink ever." she said. Hibiya raised an eyebrow.

"If you say so." he said.

"So how's Onii-chan? Is he still failing miserably at talking to people?" asked Momo. Hibiya laughed dryly.

"Yeah. You really think forcing him to work here is going to help him?" he asked. Momo nodded.

"I think he's improving." she said, shrugging. "Besides, he's got friends now, hasn't he? He's got you guys. Also, if I didn't go around and hunt down jobs, I wouldn't have met you, Hibiya-kun." Hibiya's face flushed for the second time today.

"When are you staying until?" asked Hibiya.

"I'll be here for around two hours." said Momo. "I need to work on some lyrics for my new song, anyways."

"You sure are busy." said Hibiya. "Super idol-san." Momo smiled.

"Yeah." she said, laughing. At that moment, Shintaro came out of the back room, hearing the talking from outside.

"Momo," he said, walking up to them. "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking on you, Onii-chan, among other things!" she said. "Why are you so surprised? I'm a regular here, anyways!" Shintaro sighed.

"Why did you even force me to work here..." he said, more to himself than to his sister.

"You know the answer to that, Onii-chan! If you don't get a social life and start talking to people, you're going to rot away in your room!" said Momo. Shintaro sighed.

"I'm going back." he said, and walked away. Momo sighed.

"I really hoped I was doing something good for him..." she murmured.

"Don't worry." said Hibiya, and Momo looked up at him. "Although it doesn't look like it, he's doing well." Momo smiled.

"Thank you, Hibiya-kun." she said, smiling as she took another sip of her coffee.

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Shintaro couldn't help but look at the girl sitting near the window. She had ordered a milk tea instead of coffee, which was something unusual. She wasn't a regular here, but it wasn't her first time at Bittersweet Café either.

The girl had long brown hair with two red clips clipped to her left fringe, and dark brown eyes. She wore a white dress trimmed with a red ribbon. Shintaro has never had a proper conversation with her (but then again, he hasn't had a proper conversation with anyone other than the other workers and his sister for a long time), but she peaked his interest, which was definitely something rare.

Like always, she was folding paper cranes.

Shintaro didn't know why she was folding paper cranes, but he wanted to know. No, he wanted to know more about her. But he was socially awkward. How could he possibly talk to someone?

"What are you doing, Kisaragi? Don't slack off!" said Takane, walking past him to deliver a cup of coffee to a customer. He sighed.

The girl was still folding paper cranes. She lifted up the one she had just finished, and she smiled to herself. Oh god, that smile was so cute.

Shintaro slapped himself mentally. No, Shintaro. You swore on your internet and your coke collection that you won't get involved with more people. Having to deal with Takane Enomoto is bad enough, along with the little brat Hibiya and Momo, the very person that took away the sacred wifi at home. No more people.

"Shintaro-kun, what are you doing?" asked Haruka, walking out from the back room.

"...I'm not slacking off." said Shintaro defensively. Haruka laughed.

"I didn't say you were." he said. He glanced behind Shintaro and he smiled.

"Hey, Shintaro-kun, could you tell the girl at table 10 she can get a free refill?" said Haruka. Shintaro blinked.

"But we don't have any free refill events going on right now..." he said, confused.

"Just go! Good luck!" said Haruka. He went back into the back room, leaving Shintaro with the biggest task he had in days. Shintaro stood there, debating if he should just threaten the high schooler to do it for him. _Screw this shit,_ he thought as he approached the girl.

"Um, excuse me..." he started. The girl looked up at him. She was even cuter up close- No, Shintaro. Stop right there.

"Yes?" she asked. It was the first thing he heard her say. He never had the courage to serve her, even though he knew she would order a milk tea and add two sugar cubes every time. Her voice was just as he imagined.

"You can get a free refill, would you like to use it now or next time?" asked Shintaro. He was well aware of his shaking fist and stuttering voice, but he forgot about it the moment the girl smiled.

"Oh, yes, I'll use it now, please! Thank you!" she said. Shintaro took her cup and went back into the kitchen, his heart pounding. He just had a conversation with someone! Way to go, Shintaro Kisaragi! He returned with her tea, and she smiled.

"Thank you!" she said. "Oh, I'll give you this!" She took one of the paper cranes she folded and presented it to Shintaro. He blinked.

"...Why?" he asked finally.

"Oh, do you not like it?" asked the girl, looking a little sad. Shintaro started to panic.

"N-No, I didn't say that. I j-just wanted to know why all of a sudden..." he said. The girl smiled.

"You gave me a refill, so I wanted to give you something in return!" she said. Shintaro took the paper crane in his hands.

"T-Thank you..." he said. The girl smiled.

"I'm Ayano Tateyama!" she said. "What's your name?"

"...Shintaro. Shintaro Kisaragi." said Shintaro.

"Nice to meet you, Shintaro!" said Ayano, smiling. Shintaro took a deep breath.

"I'll... treasure this." he said, as he left. He quickly went to the back room and let out the breath he was holding in.

He just had a normal conversation with someone. Hallelujah.

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When the clock strikes seven and the night is near, the small coffee shop flips the "open" sign around and closes for the night.

"Be careful on your way home!" said Haruka, waving.

"Yeah. Same to the both of you." said Hibiya.

"We'll be fine!" said Takane.

"Finally. Today's over." said Shintaro, yawning. Haruka laughed.

"Well then, everyone." said Takane. "See you tomorrow!"

* * *

 **Before I leave, I just have to get this off my mind. 1. KAGEROU PROJECT'S GETTING A NEW ANIME LIKE HOW COOL IS THAT HUH I'M SO FREAKING EXCITED GODDAMMIT ! I swear I've been wishing for one for such a long time and it's a total dream come true. I am so happy. Just wishing for better animation, and more interaction of my ships...  
** **2\. SEEK at Mekakucity was so freaking amazing like you all have to go watch it because a) Mekakushi Dan is trapped in a mansion and b) HibiMomo ship is sailing! and c) apparently Ayano forgot her scarf at Shintaro's house! and d) if you're anything like me, you will smile and laugh like an idiot and just be so purely happy seeing them once again.  
I'm just so happy right now. The KagePro fandom is coming back alive! And I'll do my best in trying to keep it alive with my stories. I hope you enjoyed this, and I'll see you next chapter!**

 **~Chinnie Ai**


	2. Vanilla

**I haven't updated this in ages! I can't believe myself, for not updating for so long and for updating, like, three stories in a row. Wow, I'm on a roll today!**

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Today, Bittersweet Café welcomed a few new faces.

They were introduced to the employees by none other than their regular customer Momo Kisaragi. They came to the café together, talking amongst themselves and smiling. The employees looked towards them, wondering what the noise was.

"Ah, Onii-chan! Hibiya-kun! I brought my friends just like I said I would!" said Momo, smiling and waving. Takane and Haruka walked out of the back room and joined the party.

"...You have friends, Momo?" asked Shintaro finally. Momo pouted.

"That's mean! I'm doing better than you, Onii-chan!" she said.

"So this is Kisaragi-chan's older brother..." said one of the boys. He had blond hair and cat-like eyes. "I see the resemblance!" He laughed. Momo turned to him.

"Really?! I don't look anything like him!" she said.

"It's more of the atmosphere than the looks that's similar." said one of the girls who had long green hair and black eyes.

"Not even you, Tsubomi!" said Momo. She sighed. "Anyways, these are the employees of this café. As you all know, this is my brother, Shintaro Kisaragi." Shintaro stiffened and bowed his head awkwardly.

"Nice to meet you..." he mumbled. Momo sighed.

"And this is Hibiya Amamiya, the youngest worker here!" said Momo. Hibiya rolled his eyes.

"You didn't have to emphasize that." he said. "Anyways, I'm Hibiya Amamiya, nice to meet you."

"How old are you?" asked the other boy that had black hair and brown eyes.

"I'm a junior in high school." said Hibiya.

"And this is Haruka Kokonose!" said Momo, continuing with her introductions. Haruka smiled.

"Hi, everyone! Nice to meet you all!" he said, excitedly.

"And last but not least, this is Takane Enomoto!" said Momo. Takane nodded.

"Nice to meet you." she said. Momo smiled.

"Now, everyone, meet my friends! This is Shuuya Kano, Tsubomi Kido, Marry Kozakura, and Kousuke Seto!" she said. "We're in the same college!"

"I'm still surprised you got into college." said Shintaro. Momo's face flushed red.

"That's mean! My grades aren't that bad!" she said. Beside her, Momo's friends sighed.

"Momo. Just accept the truth." said Tsubomi.

"I-It's okay, Momo-chan! Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses!" said Marry. "Right, Kousuke?" Beside her, Kousuke laughed.

"T-That's true!" he said. Shuuya was struggling to hold in his laughter.

"That's enough about me! Let's go sit down!" said Momo, walking over to a bigger table in the café. Her friends followed her, and the employees also did, ready to take their order.

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Takane didn't like to admit it, but she was pretty short.

Well, come on. Being short isn't necessarily bad, right? Fun things come in small packages! Right? And she wasn't _short._ She was just... _Petite._ That was basically her charm point, just like her death glare and tendency to stay up late. 157cm isn't that short, anyways. Right?

But she did have some trouble around the coffee shop because of her height. She couldn't reach the things she needed that were stored in higher shelves, and she always needed Haruka to help her. Even though he was always around and happy to help, Takane felt angry and frustrated every time even though she had no reason to be.

Okay, she was short. But she didn't need _this_ either.

Takane's eyebrows twitched as she stared at the thing placed in front of her. She didn't know what to say.

"Haruka! Explain this!" she yelled. Shintaro and Hibiya glanced at her, but ignored her yell. They were used to this already. Haruka came out of the back room, looking confused.

"What happened, Takane?" he asked.

"Could you please explain to me," said Takane, trying to suppress her anger as she spoke and pointed to the stool on the ground between them. "what this is?"

Haruka's face bloomed into a smile, which only made Takane angrier. "Oh this? I made it for you, Takane!"

Takane stared at the stool. It was painted into a shade of baby blue and it was covered with pink hearts _everywhere,_ on the legs, on the seat, _everywhere._ Worst of all, smack dab in the middle of the biggest heart on the seat of the stool was her name written in a beautiful cursive, decorated with even more hearts.

"Why?" asked Takane, that being the only word she could force out. Haruka cocked his head to one side, absolute confusion shown on his face.

"Because I thought you'd like it, Takane. I thought I would help you in my own way, since this is the best I can do… Besides, I thought it was cute! Just like Takane!" he said.

Takane's face flushed red. "You idiot! What are you saying?! You—"

"Enomoto, quit bullying Haruka-senpai!" Shintaro called out.

"Shut up, you ass!" Takane responded.

"Takane… You don't like it?" asked Haruka quietly. His disappointment and sadness was shown clearly on his face, and Takane's face heated up involuntarily once again. She looked away, unable to meet his eyes.

"Thanks, I guess…" she muttered.

Haruka's face bloomed into a huge smile. "I'm glad you like it, Takane!"

"I-I hate you…"

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It was two o'clock in the afternoon, and she was back again.

However this time, the beautiful girl was not folding paper cranes. She wore a red scarf around her neck, even though she was indoors, and her beautiful dark brown eyes stared down at her cup, refusing to make eye contact with the man that sat across from her with a bored expression on his face. Was he her boyfriend? Nobody knew. Shintaro tried to ignore the two, but his eyes kept darting towards their table. Maybe it was because there weren't any other customers in the cafe.

"Hey," said the man, startling Ayano, who gave a little jump in her seat like a frightened squirrel. He glanced at his Cartier watch, tapping his finger against it impatiently. "Are you just going to sit there like an idiot and say nothing? You're a waste of my time."

"I-I'm sorry…" said Ayano, her voice trembling.

The man leaned back in his seat, staring down at her with a prideful air. "I'm doing you a favor by agreeing to this date, you know. Do you think someone as plain as you would be able to even talk to me in a normal situation?"

Ayano's grip on her coffee cup tightened, and after hearing the man's words, Shintaro almost snapped the blender in half.

He couldn't believe it. He had never even imagined anyone could be this rude. He was five seconds away from losing his cool.

"You should show some thankfulness," the man continued. "It's all because of my dumb parents that I have to sit within a five meter radius of you. You're probably just in it for the money, anyways. Everyone is. Even so, I didn't neglect you completely. You should be grateful."

"I understand, Kurozawa-san," said Ayano, her gaze shifting away.

"Hey. Give _me_ your full attention when you're talking to me." said the man, jerking Ayano's face forcefully back to face his own.

Shintaro dropped the ice shovel at the sight of those actions. He couldn't believe it. Oh, he could _not_ believe it. Sweet, dear Ayano was being harassed by this asshole, and he was just standing around to watch.

He couldn't believe himself.

"Hey, you over there!" The man's voice brought Shintaro back to the present. Kurozawa was gesturing at him. "Waiter. Barista. Come over here."

Shintaro reluctantly made his way over to their table. He could feel Ayano's gaze lingering on him.

"I need another coffee here. This girl's being too boring." said Kurozawa.

"…'m so…."

"Huh? What was that? Speak up!"

That was the last straw. Shintaro couldn't take it anymore. He glared at Kurozawa with the most hate he had felt in a long time.

"I'm sorry, but we don't serve assholes like you." he spat.

Kurozawa's eyes narrowed. "What did you just say to me?"

"I said we don't serve assholes like you," Shintaro repeated, ignoring the shocked expression on Ayano's face. At this point, he was aware that his co-workers were also listening in. They were probably freaking out. "We're not obligated to help shitty people. In fact, you're not welcome here. Please get the fuck out. Ayano deserves someone much better than you, you son of a bitch."

Shintaro took Ayano's hand and walked off into the back of the store. He closed the door behind them, and his co-workers walked up to him, speechless.

"Um…" Ayano's sweet voice called him back to reality. Shintaro's eyes widened as he recalled his words just seconds ago.

"Oh my god." he said. He looked at Ayano, then at his co-workers. "Did I actually just say all that?"

"Well… To put it bluntly, yeah, you fucking did." said Takane, raising an eyebrow.

Shintaro crumpled down to the floor, his legs weak and his head spinning. "I can't believe this," he muttered. "I'm probably going to be fired. I'll probably quit life."

"Don't say that!" said Ayano. She crouched down to meet Shintaro's eyes. "You saved me. If you hadn't spoken up, I would never have had the courage to fight back. Thank you, thank you so much."

Shintaro looked away, embarrassed. "…It was nothing." he said.

"Who was that jerk, anyways?" asked Hibiya.

"My parents arranged a date with him for me. They were concerned about my relationship status, since I've never dated anyone." said Ayano, sighing.

"You've never dated anyone?" asked Shintaro immediately. After realizing the rudeness of his words, he clutched his head. "Ugh, I'm sorry! That's not what I meant!"

Ayano laughed. "No, that's alright. I understand. Yes, I've never dated anyone. But I'm not lonely or anything, I guess. Spending time alone allowed for me to find this coffee shop. I wouldn't trade this place for a relationship."

Haruka laughed. "I don't think any of us would," he said.

Shintaro couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

* * *

 **This is heavily unedited and the previous bits were written months and months ago, so I apologize for the possible errors. I hope you enjoyed, and see you soon!**

 **~nxiro**


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